The Fighter
by Manzie.Chambers
Summary: Storm Chasers unvierse! When Matt Hughes is diagnosed with cancer he gets a new outlook on life, and support from friends, family, and a special fan. Pre Dedication fic. Rated T just in case
1. Chapter 1

AN: Before I even START this, I've got to clear something up. The reason I'm writing this is absolutely in no way, shape, or form, trying to harm anyone emotionally. I just wish that the storm chaser Matt Hughes didn't take his own life, and he ends up battling cancer, and defeating it with support from friends, family and a very special fan (That would be me,) and the numbers 5, 14 and 26 have a special significance

Matt Hughes sat in shock, after he received the news that he had stage 2 leukemia. His green eyes just filled with shock, he wondered if he should call his wife, Kenda, with the news. He couldn't even begin to imagine how to tell his sons. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and dialed Kenda's number.

Kenda sighed, hearing her phone go off. Oh it's Matt! He probably got himself in a load of shit, again... she thought idly to herself, soon picking it up, "Matt what the hell did you do now? Get lost in the mall again, or did your GPS commit suicide and you're in the middle of nowhere? I'm kidding, what's wrong?" Matt chuckled at her remarks, and then when she asked what was wrong, he broke down. He wanted to hang up but couldn't. His green eyes filled with tears "I... have leukemia..." he sobbed, He was scared, "What do I do? It's only in a centralized area but I don't know what to do..." he asked, soon holding his head, in somewhat disbelief.

Kenda gasped, a million thoughts ran through her head, she blinked "You'll be okay, right Matt?" She instantly mentally face palmed, 'Yeah he will, he's strong...' she thought "Matt, how are you going to tell our boys? Wait when's your first treatment? Sorry to bombard you with questions... I'm about as scared as you now,"

Matt sighed and began thinking over her questions. Would their sons actually understand the whole chemo/radiation process? His first treatment would be in 5 weeks, and he would have anywhere from 15 to 25 treatments. He sighed, beginning to collect his thoughts. "The boys probably would be relieved to know that I would be alright, the cancer is only in one small area, around the knee, insert corny Skyrim joke here..." He sighed, chuckling.

Kenda rolled her eyes. Typical boy shit, huh? Well then inserting typical girl shit now! She thought "Oh? Since when did you start dating Dovashy?" Kenda laughed, soon mentally dying laughing "In a few years you could say 'Well I USED to have cancer like you, until I took a chemo in the knee', not guaranteeing anyone you would know had cancer." She sighed, wondering how Brandon was, that annoying little shit. His sons were a lot calmer than him, that's for certain

Matt smiled, they talked for a little while longer then he hung up, soon looking at the doctor who was sort of giving him a 'What the hell was the Skyrim crap about?' look, and then chuckled, understanding, "So, um, you pick the date for your first treatment, sir."

Matt thought for a moment, "Ummmm May 26? If that's alright, either that or June 14, both days are good for me I guess. Oh and by the way I hate the formalities" May 26 was the day he was going to attempt suicide. He blinked. Well suicide isn't an option now. He soon sighed as the doctor let him go. He nodded, and went out to his car, soon pulling out his phone and calling Sean.

Jenna Rae Chambers woke up, her light brown hair was messy, but she brushed it behind her ears for the time being. She went out to the kitchen noticing both parents were working "Fuck yeah!" she said, soon getting glared at by her fat brown tabby cat. "What Jack? Want some food?" She asked, soon filling his bowl and then going back to her room to change.

(A/N: I'll slowly begin to introduce more about Jenna in future chapters but for now back to the Matt part. Yes Jenna Rae is a crucial character but not until later. For now I'll just put in Brandon.)

Brandon woke up around 10 that morning, and packed some clothes for a week long storm chase. He sighed, looking at his wife Lexi, "I'll stay safe... You can't lose another boy like you lost Devin..." Devin, their younger son, was hit by a car and pronounced dead at the scene, the driver felt so bad that they killed themselves over it.

Lexi nods, "Alright, I'll have Chase call you before he goes to bed..." She kisses him one last time, and murmured the five words she always did before anything that happened to Brandon "Stay safe. I love you." She let go, and watched him leave.

Matt and Kenda sighed talking about treatment options, and poked fun at each other. "Who knew such a sad thing makes us die laughing? No pun intended..." Kenda smiled.

Matt saw Collin and Hunter's bedroom light on. "Oh crap..." He closed the door, and stood there before Collin came in, "Dad the gig's up, we know your secret... You bought us the Xbox 720!" Collin soon frowned and walked away...

Matt blinked, "Kenda I think they found out, Collin looked pretty scared when he saw us talking." He began to cry, "I'll tell them in the morning..." He wiped his eyes... "I can't do it! I just can't take the risk of having a bad reaction to the chemo..."

Kenda laid a calming hand on Matt's cheek. She kissed his head, soon lying him down, "Get some sleep, maybe then you'll feel a lot better." She sighed, kissing his head as he fell asleep

A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this! I've worked on it for a few days now. And I've worked through injuries and grieving the loss of 2 greats, Andy Griffith and Alan Poindexter. I dedicate this chapter to them. :(


	2. Chapter 2

AN: yay new chapter! Reviewers of Chapter 2 will get a free chibi Matt (squee!)  
Matt: NOOOOOOOO NOT A CHIBI MEEEEEEE! Okay fine…. And this chapter will mostly contain Brandon, a cancer survivor. This chapter takes place around may 12 or 13th

Matt rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with an audible thud, which could be heard from Collin and Hunter's room. "Meh. Too early…." He was exhausted, he didn't go to bed until around midnight, but he saw Kenda was awake, as she was coming up the stairs.

"Matt? You okay?" Kenda asked. Upon seeing him alright, she rolled her eyes and laughed, "Wow, nice job of scaring me, ass!" she chuckled, kissing his head and sitting with him, "Well Kenda I'm tired!" Matt rolled onto his back, and just lay in the blankets until their savannah cat Jake licked his face.

Matt and Kenda laughed "Hey Jake!" Matt said happily, ruffling the cat's fur. Jake was part savannah part Bengal. Matt sighed soon whispering "How are we telling the boys? Jake excluded…" He knew Jake wouldn't know what cancer was, hell he was a cat! He chuckled at the thought.

Kenda sighed… "I don't know… I really don't to be honest Mattie…. Yes I went there so shut up." She laughed, soon going to wake the boys. She smiled seeing the boys up and dressed for school.

Collin sighs "Mom, we heard everything… We know dad has cancer! We know what it is, Is there any way that we can help him?" Collin was determined to help his father. His brown eye glinted. (AN: Collin's heterochromatic, Fun fact!)

Kenda nods "You guys don't have to go to school… if you don't want to…" She knew this must be hard for her kids, but she was a little surprised to see the boys wanting to go to school. "Oh right, your weekend field trip…. Have fun I guess…." She soon went back to Matt.

Matt was curled up asleep with Jake lying beside him. His dark brown hair was messy from Jake licking it,

Brandon looked at his phone as it rang, it was Chase. He picked it up "Hey Chase…." He said tiredly, he had his yearly MRI tomorrow. He wasn't too happy about it, but he shrugged it off. "So how's school been?" he asked.

Chase sighs "I'm okay… I hope you don't have cancer dad…" he tapped his fingers nervously on his keyboard, ironically typing 'hi dad', he soon sighed and tears streamed down his face as sobs came out.

Brandon heard Chase sobbing, "Chase? Are you alright? I won't have cancer; trust me on this one, kiddo… Listen I gotta go get some sleep, sorry we couldn't talk long…" He felt pretty bad for making his own child cry. He lets tears flow,

Chase soon murmurs "Alright dad…. I'll let you go… I gotta sleep anyways too. See you soon." He hangs up the phone and plays angry birds and soon drifts off to sleep.

An hour later, Lexi strode into Chase's room to set his phone on his dresser and pulling the covers over him,

The next afternoon the films had come back, just 2 hours after his MRI… Brandon looked them over with the doctor, and thankfully there were no tumors, but there were certainly storms to be chased!

(AN: Ah my god this is taking me way too long to write…. XD… Back to Matt and Kenda)

Matt ate some pizza while watching the NHL Stanley Cup Finals; the Sabres were up 2 to 0 with 5 minutes left in the game. When the game was over he shut the TV off and threw the plate away and put the box in the fridge. He walked halfway up the stairs and collapsed.

Kenda heard Matt collapse and went out to get him. "Oh poor Matt… This must be terrible for him!" Kenda laid him on the bed, covering him up. She sat next to him, knowing he had his first treatment in the morning, "He was pretty tired, I hope he sleeps well…." She murmurs, lying next to him

(Matt's chemo will begin in the next Chapter, for now, I give you Jenna!)

Jenna was sitting on her bed reading posts on Facebook when she saw Matt's latest post. Her mahogany eyes got wide and tears formed in them. "Oh my god… Poor guy! I wish I was there to support him!" she looked at her friend James. "Sorry about that, it's just that…. Matt is my favorite storm chaser and, well I just want to help him!" she cried into her hands.

James smiled, "We CAN help! Don't worry, I have an idea. Monday we could talk to the teachers and organize a school wide benefit!" he smiled, soon texting Kenda with that idea. He sighed, "I know this is going to work!"

Jenna and James were soon asking each other stupid questions and laughing until they both drifted off to sleep.

Sorry for the short chapter my brain went completely dead after the first Jenna paragraph. Next chapter is when Jenna and James meet Matt.


	3. Chapter 3

It's Chapter 3 already? Oh wow…. Shows that I'm dedicated! Anyway thank you all for support… Here's the new chapter of the fighter! The song I listened to while typing this chapter is Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.  
_

Matt slept in until Jake rudely woke him up around 9. Matt laughed as he ruffled the cat's fur. Kenda however, was already up and going upstairs to wake Matt, his appointment was at two and she knew it was crucial for him to have this treatment done. She knew he couldn't sleep well at all after he was diagnosed.

Kenda saw Matt and Jake were awake and she smiled. "Hey guys… Matt, I know you're scared but we need to get you better!" She kissed his forehead, soon sighing, knowing scared was a definite understatement but it had to be said. She tugged on his arm "Go get showered and get something to eat okay?" It was a 3 and a half hour drive to the hospital but they were leaving at 10 just in case.

Matt mumbled something and went downstairs to eat cereal when a wave of nausea hit him. He called for Kenda and then threw up in the garbage. Jake pawed at his leg as if to say everything will be better soon. Matt slumped against the wall in pain and sadness…. "I want to be better…." He choked out through sobs, his brown hair was all messy, and he looked really ill.

Kenda rushed to his side "You're gonna be okay Matt… Just hang in there. We should leave now…" It was now 9:55. She led him to the car and opened the door for him, soon going to her own side and getting in.

Matt sighs "I feel like I can't handle this anymore. I hate being sick, I wish I was normal again!" he said as he got in the car and put his seatbelt on. He just stared into space for a little while until Kenda spoke.

"Matt listen hon. everyone at the hospital cares about you!" She was cut off by Matt's phone ringing, signaling a text message, from a fan. He opened the message and smiled "Pfffff I can't believe a 14 year old girl wants to meet me. But then again I AM pretty attractive, but that's just too pedobearish!" he flailed and then laughed.

Kenda kissed Matt's hand and smiled "Well ask her where she lives!" She chuckled, soon heading onto a bypass and focusing on the road, and occasionally glancing at Matt. She knew the cancer wore him out, but she wondered if the nausea was normal as well. She nudged Matt "Text her damn it!" she chuckled and smacked Matt playfully.

Matt sighed. "Fine…" he said, soon replying to the girl "Where do you live? I'm heading to the hospital for Chemo. Wait who ARE you?" he sent the text and yawned, bored. Soon feeling his phone buzz, he picked it up. "Oh wow, she lives in NY and OH WAIT IT'S JENNA!" Matt sighs, smiling because he knew that she and her friend James cared about him.

(A/N Jenna is ME :D Yes I am a HUGE Matt fan… ;_; forever alone. I never got to meet him!)

Jenna squees "OMG OMG OMG OMG! He actually replied! Oh god what do I say now? James help me… Never mind. I thought of something." She huffed "I know you're strong Matt. Your boys need you! I hope you feel better Mattie." Jenna started to laugh as she KNEW he hated the nickname Mattie.

Matt grimaced at the nickname Mattie "You KNOW I hate that nickname anyway I haven't heard from Brandon today and last night Kenda was on the phone with Lexi and she was crying and saying Brandon is in a better place and then I heard Kenda say coma…" Matt blinks looking out the window, almost ready to fall asleep when he got a text that shocked him, "Brandon's gone he died in his sleep…." He texted Jenna back "I'm buying you a flight ticket for you and James to come to Wichita."

Jenna squees happily and looks at James "Can your uncle drive us to the airport? Matt got us tickets to Wichita, plane leaves in 4 hours….. Call your uncle!" She was ecstatic that Matt asked her to come to Wichita. She pulled a suitcase out of her closet and filled it with a week's worth of clothes. By the time she was done, James was off the phone.

"Alright! We got a ride! He'll be here in 20 minutes with my suitcase packed." He was pretty happy for himself and Jenna, finally able to meet their hero, Matthew John Hughes.

(This part is going to get technical; it's the part where Matt begins his chemo,)

When Matt and Kenda walked into the oncology office, he was extremely dizzy and lethargic. The poor guy had been through a lot this past month. He glanced at the TV and blinked back tears. "Brandon's gone…" he murmured. The news was saying that his cancer had been undetected for 3 years and it killed him in his sleep. He broke down "I want Brandon here! He promised me he would come here to support me, no offense Kenda..." Kenda knealt to his level. "Matt, shh. It's gonna be okay, Brandon is gonna make sure you don't die. Hey, even Lane wants you alive!" Lane was the brave young boy who had died of cancer, weeks after his 13th birthday.

A half hour later, Matt was in a hospital bed and already hooked up to some saline, and he was texting Jenna until a machine went haywire…. "Damn it!" he said, laughing as the nurses rushed in. "Why can't I text without this stupid machine going off? Can you fix that?" He wanted to text Jenna without any issues with the machinery because it would just waste the nurse's time. It just didn't seem right.

The nurse nodded and pushed a few buttons "It shouldn't go off by itself anymore." She put in the first drug that would begin to kill the cancer cells, which had now spread through his whole left leg. Matt sighed as he set the phone down, and closed his eyes. He had hoped Jenna and James would get there by the next day for his second day of chemo.

Jenna and James were chasing each other around the airport gate. They were the youngest on the flight so everyone was keeping an eye on the two so they wouldn't get into_ too_ much trouble. When the gates were open and the plane was empty, Jenna and James were allowed on first and able to sit wherever and the pair sat in first class.

"So James um, did you even TELL your girlfriend about this? If you didn't, I swear to god I will hurt you…. I'm kidding about the hurt thing!" She laughs as she gets a text from Allissa, James' girlfriend saying that she hoped her and James would have a nice trip. "Your butt is so saved James." As she said that, the pilot did his whole plane safety spiel and the plane soon lifted off into the cloudy Buffalo sky.

Longest chapter so far… I think.


End file.
